Right now, we don't have rights. We're not employees. They have all the rights. They have the license, they send me the customers, they can decide to suspend me at any time. My license belongs to Uber. I get that license from Uber, not the city. They will take it back. It's not yours.

When I open the app and sign in, they'll send something to the phone—if you agree, click yes, if not, click no. If you say no, it closes, it's not going to activate, and you can't work anymore. You have to click yes to everything. Sometimes you don't really know what it says. But everything on there, you say yes. If you say no, you can't work. It logs you out. So whatever they put on there, just click yes—Yes, sir! No matter what.

If I had money, I would change my car. In my cab, I had more freedom than this. Uber reaches in and they cut me off—I don't like that. I'm not happy about that. Then I can't work.

But if you want to go back to driving for-hire again, it'll cost you more money. You need to go buy commercial insurance, you need to go buy a computer, you need to paint your car. You need to get licenses. There's a lot of things going on. That's the big factor that keeps me on here—you don't have any cash available. You can't get out.

So whatever I make here, I just continue.

—Peter, Seattle Uber driver

About Working Washington: Our mission is to build a powerful workers’ movement that can not only dramatically improve wages and working conditions, but can also change the local and national conversation about wealth, inequality, and the value of work. More info…

Our mission is to build a powerful workers’ movement that can not only dramatically improve wages and working conditions, but can also change the local and national conversation about wealth, inequality, and the value of work.

Working Washington fast food strikers sparked the fight that won Seattle's landmark $15 minimum wage. We drove Amazon to sever ties with right-wing lobby group ALEC and improve conditions in their sweatshop warehouses. And we helped lead the winning campaign in SeaTac for a $15 living wage.